Sunday, July 30, 2017

The Chocolate Hills of Bohol

We arrived at the famous Chocolate Hills in Bohol at noon, the worst time possible for making great photos. And as you can see the images became quite "flat", although some clouds helped a little.

Anyway I don't plan to come back to make nice early morning photos when/if I get my full frame camera. Because the inland mountains of Cebu are actually more beautiful!

Why the Chocolate Hills became this famous is because of their echoes, which is one of Christopher Alexander's 15 properties for life in our environments. Read more about this property here.

I chose to add a filter to the photos presented here, to soften the hard mid day light and make the tops a little more "chocolate".

My advice for choosing a guide is to ask if he/she respects the art of photography. Someone who respects photography will never do such a cruel thing as to take a dedicated photographer to such a famous place at noon. When somebody do this they have not a clue about photography, which is light + composition, adding some patience. A guide not respecting photography will probably not respect your desire to wait for the right light and composition as well.









The Mahogany Forest of Bohol

-Wikimedia.
When I pass this area it feels like I'm in the middle of a wide wild forest. And what shocks me when I knew it was man made forest. Bravo to those hands who doesn't hesitate to dig a hole and plant each tree. I just love this place. - Manama

Saturday, July 29, 2017

A Fairytale Cabin in the Forest

Den høysensitive tarsieren

Tarsieren er verdens mest høysensitive skapning. Faktisk er den så lyssensitiv at hvis noen fyrer av blitsen på kameraet, faller den umiddelbart stein død ned fra grenen, lik en moden frukt. Men så har man da også på Filippinene innført dødsstraff for de som skulle være så skjødesløse å utføre en slik ugjerning. Kunne enda de lavsensitive vise litt større forståelse for høysensitive skapninger generelt, også de som er av arten menneske.

Tarsieren er naturligvis like sensitiv for mekanisk støy, som den er for lys. Om dagen gjemmer den seg under mørke blader, hvor den ser mildt på turistene med et ønske om at de holder kjeft. Selvsagt bør tarsieren bli maskot for alle høysensitive i vår herjede sivilisasjon!

-Wikimedia.

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Great-Grandmother's Abandoned Farm

Silveria A. Baton's farm in Danao, Cebu, Philippines, was abandoned because of the golf club Filipino Inc. de Cebu, which built a huge concrete wall between the farm and central Danao, blocking the road. Then, instead of a few hundreds meters walk to the village, they got to walk several kilometers. Thus they had no choice but to abandon their bellowed farm.

The farm is lush and full of fruit trees. It should have been a permaculture demonstration farm, supplying the village with fresh food. But for the rich and privileged golf is obviously more important than farms.

Click in an image to start a manual slide show.



Avocado tree.





Dear great-grandmother, we're very sorry for what happened to your farm. But the rich and wealthy on the other side of the wall don't care. You've disgraced your beautiful island!







Mango tree.













The central village of Danao is just a few hundred meters away on the other side of this wall of shame. Now we had to drive a detour for several kilometers and then to walk another couple of kilometers, to enter the farm.

I've never liked golf, but after this misdeed I really hate this sport and everybody involved in it!


This blogpost will be updated. See more images here.

Silveria A. Baton's House in Danao, Cebu, Philippines

Silveria A. Baton's house in Danao, Cebu, Philippines.

-Wikimedia.

Door cross.

Some of Silveria's grand and great grand children. She got 15 children herself, and at her death 90 years old she had hundreds of children, grand-children, great-grand-children and great-great-grand-children. Sorry we didn't manage to see you before you passed away, except on internet.

Silveria A. Baton. Apr. 27, 1926 - Oct. 03, 2016.

May you rest in peace!

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